Miss Ramsden and Mr Gough's Super SATs Spelling Revision List!

In the SATs, children will be tested on spelling rules for Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6. I have outlined each of the spelling rules below as well as words that meet the criteria of the rule. Some rules have exceptions to the rule and where possible these exceptions have been included.

In 2016, only 2/20 of the words used in the SATs spelling test were on the English appendix – this lead me to make my own list. This list includes the spelling appendix plus more examples for each spelling pattern. This list does not aim to be comprehensive but merely to support children’s understanding of the spelling rules and words that relate to that rule in particular. Please add any other words you can think of that may also follow the rule or even be an exception to it!

It is important to remember that the format of the spelling test means children must write these words correctly into a sentence. They do not normally fall at the start of the sentence so they do not need a capital letter.

Of course, nothing improves spelling more than reading daily as it helps children to see the words regularly and become more familiar with spelling rules. Some words may be repeated as they fit more than one spelling rule.

In the 2017 tests, 15 of the 20 words used appear on this list.

The words from last year’s SATs test (2016):

Spelling Pattern / Rules for this pattern / Examples
Adding suffixes that start with a vowel letter to words with more than one syllable / If the last syllable of a word is stressed and ends with one consonant letter which has just one vowel letter before it, the final consonant letter is doubled before any ending beginning with a vowel letter is added. The consonant letter is not doubled if the syllable is unstressed. / nicest, happiest, adoring, funniest, copier, improving, sunnier, required, beginning, beginner, gardener, gardening forgetting, forgotten, committing, multiplying, preferred, limiting, limited, limitation, absorbent, admired, allowance, assistant, controlled, controller, controlling, coverage, creative, criticism, decorative, deferred deferring, disturbance, heroism, inquired, inquiring, investigator, journalism, narrative, narrator, observant, occurred, occurring, occurrence, producer, provider, relative, thunderous, traveller, vandalism, visitor, polishing
The /i/ sound spelt y elsewhere other than at the end of words / myth, gym, Egypt, pyramid, mystery, dynasty, mystic, symbol, synagogue, synonym, antonym, mysterious, mythical, syrup, cymbal, typical, cycle, symptom, tyre, rhythm, python, hymn, system, crystal, gymnast, gymnastics, rhyme, idyllic, cyclone, physical
The short sound /u/ spelt with the letters ou / touch, young, double, trouble, couple, country, cousin, courage, encourage, flourish, nourish, rough, tough, enough, mysterious, disastrous, famous, tremendous, fabulous, hazardous, ridiculous, southern, dangerous, enormous, generous, nervous, jealous
Prefixes (group of letters before a word) / UN, DIS and MIS all have negative meanings
RE means 'again' or 'back'
IN, IL, IM and IR can mean 'not' and 'in/into'
SUB means under
INTER means 'between' or 'among'
SUPER means above
ANTI means against
AUTO means 'self' or 'own' / UN - unsuitably, unable, unnecessary, unwell, unusual, unhappy, unofficial, untidy, unfriendly, undo, unpleasant, untie, unbelievable, unzip, unorganised, unsure, unqualified, unwrap, unlimited, unfair, unknown, unwelcome, unlikely, unnoticed, unlocked, unseen, unpick, unlucky, untrained, unlock
DIS - disappear, disappoint, disobey, distrust, disqualify, disagree, dishonest, discontinue, disapprove, disorder, dishearten, dislike, displease, disconnect, disable, disadvantage, disbelieve, disbelief, disown, disinfect, disgrace, discourage, disallow
MIS - misbehave, mistake, misunderstand, misunderstood, misfire, misbelieve, mishear, misconception, misread, misfortune, misuse, misinterpret, miscopy, misaddress, mispronounce, misadventure, misquote, miscalculate, miscount, misdirect, misinform, misjudge, misplace, misconduct, mislead, misspell, mischarge
recycle, refill, rebuild, replay, repay, reconsider, replace, rearrange, reassure, return, recapture, reuse, rebound, redo, reconstruct, rewire, reinforcement, rewind, repossess, renew, revisit, reheat, rewrite, reclaim, recount, reform, re-join, reunion, refresh, readjust, redecorate, reappear
IN - inactive, incorrect, inedible, insufficient, inconsiderate, independent
IL - illegal, illegible, illness, illogical, illiterate, illustrate
IM - immature, immortal, impossible, impatient, imperfect
IR - irregular, irrelevant, irresponsible
SUB - subdivide, subheading, submarine, submerge
INTER - interact, intercity, international, interrelated
SUPER - supermarket, superman, superstar
ANTI - antiseptic, anticlockwise, antisocial
AUTO - autobiography, autograph, automatic
The suffix -ation / The suffix –ation is added to verbs to form nouns. / information, adoration, sensation, sensational, preparation, admiration, inspiration, inspirational, variation, frustration, deprivation, improvisation, innovation, determination, accommodation, anticipation, alliteration, collaboration, complication, confrontation, desperation, exclamation, recommendation, revelation, exaggeration, temptation, manipulation, appreciation, dedication, fascination, hesitation, illustration, imagination, multiplication, vibration, organisation, separation, decoration, celebration, combination, education, examination, expectation, exploration, generation, identification, observation, obligation, occupation, operation, situation, transportation, conversation, population, preparation, punctuation, relation, reputation, creation, nation, location, station, vacation, national, nationality
The suffix –ly / The suffix –ly is added to an adjective to form an adverb. The rules already learnt still apply.
The suffix –ly starts with a consonant letter, so it is added straight on to most root words. / finally, comically, suddenly, importantly, crazily, dimly, ghastly, secondly, firstly, thoroughly, extraordinarily, ferociously, anxiously, creepily, gratefully, desirably, instantly, quickly, friendly, deadly, elderly, likely, lovely, unfriendly, ghostly, heavenly, kindly, leisurely, wobbly, lonely, atrociously, actually, carefully, generally, originally, gradually, slowly, physically, frequently, gingerly, highly, particularly, perfectly, smoothly, approximately, extremely, angrily, cautiously, cheerfully, courageously, crossly, cruelly, defiantly, doubtfully, elegantly, enthusiastically, foolishly, frantically, gently, gladly, gracefully, happily, hungrily, merrily, nervously, sadly, safely, shyly, solemnly, weakly, wildly, punctually, recently, annually, constantly, daily, hourly, monthly, occasionally, regularly, repeatedly, usually, yearly, completely, entirely, totally, mostly, easily, hopefully, shortly, sharply, carelessly, seriously, scarcely, carefully, wonderfully, swiftly, softly, currently, considerately, competently, effortlessly, competently, confidently, confidentially, comfortably, angrily, humbly, nobly, basically, dramatically
The suffixes sure and ture / The ending sounding like /zure/ is always spelt –sure.
The ending sounding like /chure/ is often spelt –ture, but check that the word is not a root word ending in (t)ch with an er ending – e.g. teacher, catcher, richer, stretcher / measure, treasure, pleasure, enclosure, leisure, assure, reassure, pressure, unsure, sure,
creature, furniture, picture, nature, adventure, feature, lecture, structure, capture, moisture, fracture, mixture, future, texture, puncture, sculpture, culture, fixture, posture, torture, vulture, mature, departure, venture
Endings spelt sion / If the ending sounds like /zion/, it is spelt as –sion. / division, invasion, confusion, decision, collision, television, vision, excursion, exclusion, delusion, conversion, omission, possession, extension, admission, passion, occasion, confession, conclusion, impression, expression, permission, provision, session, supervision, mansion, discussion, expansion, explosion
The suffix ous / Sometimes the root word is obvious and the usual rules apply for adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters. Sometimes there is no obvious root word.
–our is changed to –or before –ous is added.
A final ‘e’ of the root word must be kept if the /dʒ/ sound of ‘g’ is to be kept. If there is an /i:/ sound before the –ous ending, it is usually spelt as i, but a few words have e. / poisonous, dangerous, mountainous, famous, various tremendous, enormous, jealous humorous, glamorous, vigorous courageous, outrageous, serious, obvious, curious, hideous, spontaneous, courteous, infamous, vicious, ridiculous, ludicrous, raucous, boisterous, hazardous, mischievous, marvellous, miraculous, hideous, perilous, monotonous, generous, momentous, gorgeous, tremendous
Endings spelt –tion, -sion, -ssion and –cian / Strictly speaking, the suffixes are – ion and –ian. Clues about whether to put t, s, ss or c before these suffixes often come from the last letter or letters of the root word.
–tion is the most common spelling. It is used if the root word ends in t or te.
–ssion is used if the root word ends in ss or –mit.
–sion is used if the root word ends in d or se.
Exceptions: attend – attention, intend – intention. –cian is used if the root word ends in c or cs. / invention, injection, action, hesitation, completion, attention,
intention, creation, location, nation, question, station, subtraction, vacation, addition, condition, emotion, foundation, competition, registration, destination, examination, expectation, exploration, obligation, proportion, satisfaction, convention, transportation, solution, graduation, reception, recreation, resolution, portion, proportion, selection, suggestion, collection, direction, humiliation, situation, conversation, completion, decoration
expression, discussion, confession, permission, admission expansion, extension, comprehension, tension
musician, electrician, magician, politician, mathematician
Words with the k sound spelt ch / scheme, chorus, chemist, echo, character, ache, anchor, chaos, monarch, orchid, stomach, architect, chemistry, orchestra, mechanic, technical, technology, school
Words with the sh sound spelt ch / chef, chalet, machine, brochure, chute, parachute, chandelier, charade, penchant
Words ending with gue and que / fatigue, league, intrigue, plague, rogue, tongue, vague, vogue, catalogue, dialogue, monologue, colleague
antique, unique, boutique, picturesque, grotesque, plaque, cheque, queue
Words with the /s/ sound spelt sc / science, scene, discipline, fascinate, crescent, ascent, descent, scent, scenery, scented, scissors, ascend, descend, fascinate, muscle, obscene, adolescent
Words with the /eɪ/ sound spelt ei, eigh, or ey / vein, weigh, eight, neighbour, they, obey, prey, convey, survey, reins, veil, reign, neigh, weight, sleigh, freight, eighteen, reindeer, beige
Words that sound like shus ending in cious or tious ending / Not many common words end like this. If the root word ends in –ce, the /ʃ/ sound is usually spelt as c – e.g. vice – vicious, grace – gracious, space – spacious, malice – malicious.
Exception: anxious. / conscious, precious, suspicious, delicious, vicious, spacious, gracious, ferocious, malicious, tenacious, ambitious, cautious, infectious, nutritious, pretentious, fictitious, superstitious, fractious, vexatious, anxious
Endings which sound like /ʃəl/ / –cial is common after a vowel letter and –tial after a consonant letter, but there are some exceptions.
Exceptions: initial, financial, commercial, provincial (the spelling of the last three is clearly related to finance, commerce and province). / social, special, official, financial, commercial, crucial, artificial, beneficial, superficial, facial, potential, essential, initial, substantial, partial, confidential, impartial, torrential, palatial, martial
rds ending in –ant, –ance/–ancy, –ent, –ence/–ency / Use –ant and –ance/–ancy if there is a related word with a /æ/ or /eɪ/ sound in the right position; –ation endings are often a clue.
Use –ent and –ence/–ency after soft c (/s/ sound), soft g (/dʒ/ sound) and qu, or if there is a related word with a clear /ɛ/ sound in the right position.
There are many words, however, where the above guidance does not help. These words just have to be learnt. / observant, observance, (observation), expectant (expectation), hesitant, hesitancy (hesitation), tolerant, tolerance (toleration), substance (substantial)
innocent, innocence, decent, decency, frequent, frequency, confident, confidence (confidential), violent, violence
assistant, assistance, obedient, obedience, independent, independence
Words ending in –able and –ible Words ending in –ably and –ibly / The –able/–ably endings are far more common than the –ible/–ibly endings. As with –ant and –ance/–ancy, the – able ending is used if there is a related word ending in –ation.
If the –able ending is added to a word ending in –ce or –ge, the e after the c or g must be kept as those letters would otherwise have their ‘hard’ sounds (as in cap and gap) before the a of the –able ending.
The –able ending is usually but not always used if a complete root word can be heard before it, even if there is no related word ending in –ation. The first five examples opposite are obvious; in reliable, the complete word rely is heard, but the y changes to i in accordance with the rule.
The –ible ending is common if a complete root word can’t be heard before it but it also sometimes occurs when a complete word can be heard (e.g. sensible). / adorable/adorably (adoration), applicable/applicably (application), considerable/considerably (consideration), tolerable/tolerably (toleration), probable/probably
changeable, noticeable, forcible, legible
dependable, comfortable, understandable, reasonable, enjoyable, reliable
possible/possibly, horrible/horribly, terrible/terribly, visible/visibly, incredible/incredibly, sensible/sensibly
Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer / The r is doubled if the –fer is still stressed when the ending is added.
The r is not doubled if the –fer is no longer stressed. / referring, referred, referral, preferring, preferred, transferring, transferred
reference, referee, preference, transference
Use of the hyphen / Hyphens can be used to join a prefix to a root word, especially if the prefix ends in a vowel letter and the root word also begins with one.
Re-enter
Co- to show it is done with someone else (Co-operate, co-ordinate)
Re- to show it is done again (re-examine, re-evaluate, re-employ) / co-ordinate, re-enter, co-operate, co-own, re-examine, re-evaluate, re-employ
Words with the /i:/ sound spelt ei after c / The ‘i before e except after c’ rule applies to words where the sound spelt by ei is /i:/.
Exceptions: protein, caffeine, seize (and either and neither if pronounced with an initial /i:/ sound).
Also good to know:
Ie after c
ei not preceded by c / deceive, conceive, receive, perceive, ceiling, receipt, deceit, conceit,
species, science, sufficient
seize, vein, weird, their, feisty, foreign
Words containing the letter-string ough / ough is one of the trickiest spellings in English – it can be used to spell a number of different sounds.
They have been split into groups based on how the ough sounds. / ought, bought, thought, thoughtful, nought, brought, fought
rough, roughest, tough, toughest, enough
cough
though, although, dough, doughy
through
thorough, borough
plough, bough
Words with ‘silent’ letters (i.e. letters whose presence cannot be predicted from the pronunciation of the word) / Unstressed letter sounds but not necessarily silent letters / knight, doorknob, knowledge, knee, knit, knobbly, knuckle, answer, bomb, comb, climb, crumb, debt, doubt, lamb, limb, numb, plumber, tomb, subtle, thumb, fasten, glisten, listen, nestle, whistle, island, solemn, thistle, knife, gnome, whale, sword, honest, kneel, rhyme, when, what, which, witch, wheat, gnaw, gnarl, gnash, knead, knock, ascend, ascent, conscience, conscious, crescent, descend, descent, muscle, scene, scent, scissors, sandwich, Christmas, design, foreign, reign, ache, chaos, character, anchor, chemist, chemical, choir, psychic, stomach, scheme, school, chorus, autumn, column, condemn, hymn, receipt, bristle, castle, hustle, jostle, moisten, often, rustle, soften, straight, Wednesday, whistle, wrap, wreck, wrestle, wriggle, wrinkle, wrist, write, wrong, bustle, biscuit, build, built, circuit, disguise, guess, guest, guide, guilt, guilty, guitar, silhouette, know, wrapper, mortgage, swordfish, resign
Family, boundary, raspberry, listener, different, separate, desperate, factory, generally, generous, government, interesting, explanatory, environment, secretary, jewellery, poisonous, company, desperate, definitely, difference, voluntary, reference, temperature
Homophones and near-homophones (Years 3 and 4) / accept/except
affect/effect
ball/bawl
berry/bury
brake/break
fair/fare
grate/great
groan/grown
here/hear
heel/heal/he’ll
knot/not
mail/male
main/mane
meat/meet
medal/meddle
missed/mist
peace/piece
plain/plane
rain/rein/reign
scene/seen
weather/whether
whose/who’s
Homophones and other words that are often confused (Years 5 and 6) / In the pairs of words opposite, nouns end –ce and verbs end –se.
Advice and advise provide a useful clue as the word advise (verb) is pronounced with a /z/ sound – which could not be spelt c. / advice/advise
aisle/isle
aloud/allowed
affect/effect/
alter/altar
ascent/assent
bridal/bridle
cereal/serial
compliment/complement
desert/dessert
draft/draught
device/devise
descent/dissent
licence/license
practice/practise
prophecy/prophesy
farther/father
guessed/guest
heard/herd
led/lead
morning/mourning
past/passed
precede/proceed
principal/principle
profit/prophet
stationary/stationery
steal/steel
wary/weary
who’s/whose
Year 5 and 6 word list / This is a bank of words that children should know in Year 5 and 6. They are often provided as a wordbank during writing sessions and children should be confident in them. / accommodate accompany according achieve aggressive amateur ancient apparent appreciate attached available average awkward bargain bruise category cemetery committee communicate community competition conscience conscious controversy convenience correspond criticise curiosity definite desperate determined develop dictionary disastrous embarrass environment equip, equipped, equipment, especially exaggerate excellent existence explanation familiar foreign forty frequently government guarantee harass hindrance identity immediate individual interfere interrupt language leisure lightning marvellous mischievous muscle necessary neighbour nuisance occupy occur opportunity parliament persuade physical prejudice privilege profession programme pronunciation queue recognise recommend relevant restaurant rhyme rhythm sacrifice secretary shoulder signature sincere, sincerely soldier stomach sufficient suggest symbol system temperature thorough twelfth variety vegetable vehicle yacht